The Wealth Sutra of Hu Changhan, "Snake Commander"

April 13, sunny, Cili County peak Tujia Township Xuelian Village 13 group Hu Changhan carrying Wang Jinshe, light car familiar to everyone to introduce the technical essentials of snake breeding. After explaining, he gently released the snake back to the snake house, and the continuous movement seemed so skillful.

In the field of snake breeding, Hu Changhan, 50, can be said to be a well-known "old master." How did he get on the path of raising snakes, and what strange experiences did he have?

Hu Changhan's idea of raising snakes originated from an accidental dinner party. One day in 2010, I tasted a delicious soup in Zhangjiajie. Later, after inquiring, I learned that this expensive "Dragon and Phoenix Soup" was made from snake meat and chicken. After the dinner, Hu Changhan, who had caught snakes in the mountains before, could not calm down for a long time. He learned that although snake meat can be said to be sold at a sky-high price, the current market is still in short supply. Since then, the idea of raising snakes to start a business began to sprout in Hu Changhan's mind. Back home, he resolutely decided not to engage in traditional farming, dedicated to raising snakes.

At the beginning of raising snakes, he groped and practiced, but also suffered. At first, he chose the non-poisonous king brocade snake. Being bitten by snakes was a common occurrence. Wind comes, rain goes, early and late, he put all his time and energy into the work of the snake farm. Being bitten again and again made him gradually familiar with the habits of snakes and accumulated rich breeding techniques. However, due to lack of funds, Hu Changhan's snake farm is still in the stage of small trouble, only more than 200 finished snakes are sold every year, and the net profit does not exceed 10000 yuan.

At the beginning of 2015, the village was listed as a precision poverty alleviation point village of Provincial Auspicious Life Insurance Company, and Hu Changhan's family was identified as a precision poverty alleviation filing card household. Yang Diao, the person in charge of the help group, heard that he had the expertise and technology of raising snakes, contacted him in many ways, helped him get a discount loan of 100,000 yuan, and helped him contact a large-scale snake farm to learn snake raising technology. With a start-up fund of 100,000 yuan and his savings for many years, Hu Changhan decided to establish Qinglong Special Breeding Cooperative in Cili County to drive interested farmers around to join in and expand the breeding scale. With his dream of becoming rich, Hu Changhan bought 500 baby snakes and 1000 snake eggs and started his business confidently.

After the establishment of the cooperative, Hu Changhan raised more than 300,000 yuan everywhere, and brought his wife and son in to continuously expand the breeding scale. Soon, the number of snakes in the snake farm increased to more than 2000, which made him very happy.

At Qinglong Special Breeding Cooperative, Hu Changhan "shows off" his treasures: a small enclosed room covered with wet fine sand and separated by red bricks. Snakes swam lazily, and there were chicken and quail meat prepared for snakes on the wooden boards and fine sand. "The enclosed room is to prevent snakes from escaping. Laying fine sand is good for snakes 'heatstroke prevention. Light is used instead of sunlight." Hu Changhan skillfully grabbed the snake and answered our questions.

Raising snakes is hard and tiring, and you have to think about it. Hu Changhan said that snakes love to be clean, and the environment is dirty and easy to get sick. After hibernation, they need to be bathed every other week. Hu Changhan picked up his finger and calculated an account for us: 20 yuan per catty for young snakes, 60 yuan per catty after sale, 80 yuan per catty at the end of the year, plus 5 yuan for snakeskin each, the net income of more than 2000 snakes in a year can reach at least 150,000 yuan. At the end of last year, Hu Changhan first tasted the sweetness of scale farming.

It is said that Hu Changhan's snake breeding professional cooperative has developed very well, and some friends nearby who want to raise snakes have come to "learn from" one after another. Hu Changhan always goes out of his way to pass on his painstakingly accumulated breeding experience and technology for treating snake diseases enthusiastically. Driven by Hu Changhan, the surrounding snake farming industry is developing in full swing. A breeding model of "company + farmer" supported by Qinglong Special Breeding Cooperative is rapidly heating up in ten miles and eight villages...

In the two years since the establishment of the cooperative, Hu Changhan has been responsible for technical maintenance and follow-up services for farmers who have joined the cooperative,"from providing seedlings, planting snakes, to recycling commercial snakes and deep processing of snake products, etc., to build a standardized and large-scale snake breeding industry base." I also want to raise more funds to continue expanding the snake farm and then build an ecological snake garden to realize a one-stop service for sightseeing, dining and entertainment." When it comes to the future, Hu Changhan smiles and is full of confidence.